Apparatus for operating and interlocking the landing and cage gates of elevators.



E. CHAUDOIR.

APPARATUS FOR OPERATING AND INTERLOCKING THE LANDING AND CAGE GATES 0PELEVATORS.

APPLICATION FlLED JULY 10. I916- RENEWED MAY 26.1919. I

Patented Dec. 30,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

. (villa ug Eugne (Zia/glad??- E. CHAUDOIR.

APPARATUS FOR OPERATING AND INTERLOCKING THE LANDING AND CAGE GATES 0FELEVATORS.

APPLICATION FILED IULY I0. I9I6- RENEWED MAY 26, I919. 1,326A4z0.

Patented Dec. 30,1919.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

K Inveniar: E u 9'@ne Ch audogl 2/2 *4 E. CHAUDOIR.

APPARATUS FOR OPERATING AND INTERLDCKING THE LANDING AND CAGE GATES 0FELEVATORS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY I0, 1916. RENEWED MAY 26.1919.

1 26,440. Patented Dec. 30, 1919.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

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4? X i 42 E 274/0.

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I nven'tor:

E uy 6 Chaudo/ b flM ZQ/dQ/ ba ua v A fiyg l INITED STATE EUGENEGHAUDOIR, OF LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND.

FAT OFFICE.

APPARATUS FOR OPERATING AND INTERLQCKING THE LANDING AND CAGE GATES OFELE VAIOBS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 30,1919.

Application filed July 10, 1916, Serial No. 108,501. Renewed May 26,1919. Serial No. 299,892.

1/ 0 all whom it may concern lie it known that I, EUGENE UHAUDOIR, asubject of the King of Belgium, and residing at lVavertree, Liverpool,in the county oi Lancaster, England, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Apparatus for Operating and Interlocking theLanding and Cage Gates of Elevators, operated by the instrumentality ofthe door or gate on the lift car or cage itself, of which the followingis a specification.

T his invention relates to nieans tor operating and locking the gate ofa lift cage and the landing gates of the lift well, and h reference moreparticularly to those arrangements according to which the car gate andthe respective landing gate opposite the car gate, when the car is at alanding, are connected together so that movement of the car gate opensthe landing gate.

According to the present invention the means by which the two gates areconnected together when they are in alineinent, are so articulated to,and are so adapted to cooperate with the locking means, that when one ofthe gates is operated the unlocking is effected and both gates thereuponopened by the movement of one of them; the arrangement is, however, suchthat the looking means are not operated merely by the alinernent oi' thegates as the car passes the landing gates, although such alinenient is acondition precedent to the operation of the locking means by the openingof one of the. gates.

e invention is illustrated in the accompr; v ing drawings, in whichFigures 1, 2 and 3 show the invention applied to acase in which thelanding gate only is locked, and

in which it is released and operated by the operation ot the car gate;Fig. 1 is an elevation on the line I, I, of? Fig. 2, which is acorresponding side elevation in section on the line II, II, at Fig. 1;Fig. 3 is a plan in section on the line III, III, of Fig. l; and Fig. l:is a 'detail of the latch. and rack; Fig. 4 is a plan with the two partsseparated.

Figs. 5, 6 and '7 show the invention applied to a case in whichboth'doors can be operated simultaneously by the one/ration of eitherthe landingdoor troni tie landing side or the car door from he car; isan elevation in section on line "V, V,

ot Figffi; Fig. 6 is a side elevation in section on line V I, VI, andFig. 7 a part plan in section on the line VII, VII, of Fig. 5.

Fig. Sis an elevation on the line VIII, VIII, of Fig. 8 of amodification in which the cams are on the car gate and the lookingdevice on the landing gate; Fig. 8 is a part plan, and Fig. 8 shows themodification when the car gate is a collapsing gate of the Bostwicktype. Figs. 9 and 10 illustrate a modification in which the car gate, aswell as the landing gate, is locked, Fig. 9 being an elevation insection on the line IX, IX, of Fig. 10, which is a corresponding sideview in section on the line X, X, of Fig, 9. Fig. 11 is an elevation oftwo coupled gates and an interlocking switch.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a pair of cams I), B, are providedtor each landing gate Z; these cams are carried from a bracket D whichin turn is secured to the door Z in any convenient manner, say by beingattached to the bearer plates I by which the gate is carried from thetrack wheels H; the cams preferably have tapering or curved ends or areof doubled in clined plane term, and are located opposite each other sothat they leave a vertical path between them with a bell mouthed portionat each end so as to permit the passage between the cams ot' a strikeror roller C which is afiixed to the gate Y of the cage. The bracket Dcarries two pins P on which the cams B and B have limited slidingmovement; the movementot B is only sutlicient to allow of lateralmovement of the striker pins (l as the car sways in rising or falling,the movement 0t B is, how ever, for a reason to be explained,considerably greater than that ot B. The cam plates are connectedtogether by springs E which give the necessary elastic or lateralmovement and which act as buffers to absorb the shock of the door whenopening or closing. Pivotcd to the same bracket D is a hook, or catch F.the tail X of which is located betweenthe cams B, B, or it may beattached to B, the attachment being such that while the cams are intheir normal p0- sition (that shown in full lines Fig.1), the beak orhook f oi the latch engages with a fixed pin or one of a series of pinsor one of the teeth. g of the rack G, which latter secnred the gatetrains, gate carrier,

or wall, in any convenient manner. Another suitable form of latch andrack is shown in elevation and plan in Figs. 4 and 4 The object offitting a plurality of pins or teeth 9 is that while normally the latchengages withthe tooth most remote from the cams when the gate iseli'ectually closed, it will, if the gate should not be quite closed,engage with one of the nearer pins or teeth, thus eflectually lockingthe gate. The $931116! result may of course be obtained by means of asingle pin or tooth and by providing the latch with a olurality ofengaging teeth, as shown, for instance, in the latch illustrated in Fig.8 The latch may be pivoted to the fixed bracket D as in the arrangementof Figs. 1 to 3, or, as shown in full lines in Fig. 8 itmay be pivotedto the gate at some distance from the cam and be connected by a rod suchas Q to an actuating lever pivoted on the bracket 1); in the case of acollapsing gate, the rod Q, instead of beingof rigid construction, wouldbe jointed as shown in the chain dotted lines of Fig. 8 so to allow forthe approach of the pickets as th gate is collapsed, and a spring suchas 9 would be fitted.

The path or space left between the cams B, B, permits of the freepassage up or down of the striker or pin C while the car is moving andduring the time that the car gate Y is closed; there is therefore nomovement of the locking mechanism during the travel or during thestarting up or stopping of the car.

When the car is brought to rest in proper position in relation to alanding, the striker or pin C comes to rest between the two cams B andB; if new the car be opened, the sn'iker C comes into contact with thecam B which is moved in opposition to the springs E until it reaches itslimit of movement on the pins P. This limited movement permits the tailX of the latch F to follow the cam l3, whereupon the latch becomesdisengaged from the rack G, thus unlocking the landing gate.

Further moven'ient of the striker C consequent upon the opening of thecar gate is effective, through the cam B, pins P and bracket l), inopening the landing; gate; when the car gate is closed the striker Gcomes into contact with the cam plate B, and the cam plate B, being nowreleased from the pressure of C, is drawn toward B by the springs E, sothat while the car gate in closing is eii'ective in closing the landinggate, this act also leaves the latch F free to engage with the rack G soas to lock the gate as soon as the closingis accomplished; thus theopening movement of the car gate, by, say, the lift attendant, unlocksthe landing ate and opens it, while the closing movement of this gatecloses the landing gate and looks it.

The lift actuating means is interlocked in any suitable manner with thecar gate so that the lift cannot be operated while the car gate is open;Any suitable device may be employed for this purpose; for instance, inthe case of electrically operated lifts, a switch such as is showndiagrammatically in Fig. 1 may be employed; the leverA is pivoted at (aand the end a of the lever is shaped so as to be located, when drawndown by the spring or, directly in the path of the hooked end f of thelatch F as the latter moves into its engaging position; when in thisposition the connection between the conductors a and a connectedrespectively to the switch A and the contact piece a, is broken and asthese conductors connect the switch in control circuit of the motor, thelatter cannot be started until the hooked end of the latch F is engagedwith one oil the teeth of the detent G. Any of the well known types ofgateoperated, or latch operated switches may be employed provided theyinsure that, when the gate is open the motor drivingthe lift is renderedinoperative. For example a switch such as A, Fig. 11, is operated by thegate in such manner that the switch is opened concurrently with thegate; this switch is inserted in the anain or a control circuit so thatwhen it is open the lift can not be operated; in the example illustratedin Fig. 11,- the cam or roller 0, is carried from the car gate, and whenthe gate is closed this roller supports the switch lever a? so that theswitch bridges the contacts a and closes the circuit; when the gate isopened the support is withdrawn from the lever and the circuit isopened. Any suit able type of switch may be used and it may be operatedin any suitable way by the gate; for instance, where the gate has a:locking latch the switch may be so operated that the circuit remainsopen until the latch is actually engaged to lock the gate.

In the example illustrated the car gate and the landing gates areordinary sliding gates supported by bearers I, from the track wheels H,which run on the tracks H, these tracks being carried, in the case ofthe landing gates, from the wall or gate frame, and in the case of thecar, from the car body Y.

If desired, the car gate may be locked by a catch similar to F; thisarrangement is shown in Figs. 9 and 10. In these figures I the cams Band B, the bracket D, the latch F and the catch G are constructed andcon nected as already described in connection with Figs. 1, 2 and 3, andthese parts are located on thelanding door or its '5 ame, as described.The latch F 2 is carried on a pivot 7 fixed to the cage gate, and isadapted to engage with the catch pin 9 fixed to the cage frame; thelatch F is operated by means of a lever f pivoted at f to the cage gate,and provided with two pins f and f and with a striker piece C whichtakes the place of the pin G of Figs. 1 to 3,'and which comes to rest,when the car stops at a landing, between the cams B, B; the movement ofthe lever is limited by the pins as and when there is relative movementbetween C and the cams B, B, caused 'ay, by opening the cage gate, or byopening the landing gate the lever f" tilts and one of the two pins 7'or f raises the latch F so that it may clear the pin 9 the pin 9 is solocated that limited movement of the car gate is permitted beforedisengagement. Further opening movement of the car gate moves Brelatively to the bracket D on which the latch F of the landing gate ispivoted. This releases the tail X of the latch F and trees the landinggate to move with the car gate. In other respects the action is similarto that described in connec tion with Figs. 1 to 3, the lever P, as thegate is closed, coming intocontact with the stop 0 on the car gate andmoving the landing gate by contact with the cam B.

In the figures just described Y is the cage gate and Z the landing gate.

in some cases, in say, push button lifts, it is necessary that thelanding gates and the car gate shall be opened, when the car is oppositethe appropriate landing, by an intending passenger in the act of openingthe landing gate on that landing, and also that both gates shall becapable of being oper ated by the car gate when the car is opposite thelanding at which the passenger desires to leave the car.

In such cases the lock on the cage gate, where it is desired to lockthis gate, is constructed as described in connection with 9 and 10, andit will be seen that with this construction the latch F is released whenthe landing gate is opened and the striker piece (l engages with the cam13, or when 1 the cage gate is opened and the striker piece engages withB; in each case the tilting of f raises F The arrangement of the camsand latch for a landing gate of a push button lift is shown in Figs. 5,6 and 7. In this case Y is the cage gate, and Z the landing gate fittedwith runners H carried from plates l" and rolling on tracks H the cagegate is omitted from The cams B and lr' are slidably carried on the pinsS secured to the gate Z by the bracket D springs S are interposedbetween, the cam R and the bracket D which normally maintains this camin its extreme position on the left of the bracket D and against thestops s and springs S are interposed between collars s on the other endsof the pins, which springs maintain the cam B in its extreme position tothe left, and in contact with the bosses al of the bracket D The latchitis pivoted at f to the bracket D and its hooked end is adapted to engagewith the teeth of the detent G the tail 7 of the catch is provided withan engaging piece X located between the cams and B and the catch isnormally maintained by the cam B in engaging position,- the cam B isarticulated by the rod T, the lever i, the rod 2 and the lever t, or byany other suitable connection, to the gate operating handle ll. Astriker piece C is attached to the cage gat Y and this piece, as shownin chain-dotted lines Fig. 5, comes into interposing posit-ion betweenthe cams B and B when the cage gate is in alineinent with the landinggate. A is a switch in a circuit which controls the motive power whichopcrates the lift.

The action is as follows :-A passenger on a landing desiring to enterthe cage when the latter has come to rest in alinement with the landingdoor, operates the handle W in the direction of the arrow; this movesthe cam 13 to the right in opposition to the springs S when the strikerpiece C is in inter-posing position (but not otherwise) the movement ofthe cam B is transmitted to the cam B and as the latter moves to theright the engaging piece X is released from engagement with the cam Band the catch F is released from the detent G further movement of thehandle "W to the right opens bot-h gates, the cage gate Y being openedby engagement between the cam B and the striker piece After thepasssenger has entered the cage, the closing of the cage gate closes thelanding gate and looks it, and the lift cannot be operated till this isdone and the switch A is closed. On arrival at the desired landing, thestriker piece C will be located between the cams on the gate of thatlanding, and the opening of the car gate will, result in the unlockingand opening of the landing gate.

lVhcre it is desired with this arrangement to lock the car gate so thatit can be opened. only when the car is opposite a landing, the car gatelocking arrangen'ient described in relation to Figs. 9 and 10 is, asstated, fitted, in which case the striker C on the tail of the lever Pwhich operatesthe car gate locking latch F takes the place of thestriker C in the arrangement just described.

It will be seen that when the double lock is fitted, the latch F isreleased by the operation of the cams when the landing gate opened, andthat it is also released when the car gate is opened, by the limitedmove ment permitted to the car gate before it beg to unlock and open thelanding gate. It will be further seen that in each case the cooperationof the striker tail piece C or equivalent device is required before anylanding gate c be opened,- and that this il 'v afforded when the car isat rest in its proper position in relation to a landing.

The arrangement is equally applicable to those cases in which the cargate or the landing gate is made in the form of a double gate, say Z, Zas shown in Fig. 11. In this case each half of the gate is provided witha rack J, which racks are coupled together by a pinion O mounted on ballbearings so as to insure sympathetic movement of the parts Z and Z inopening and closing.

The track wheels H are preferably mounted'on ball or roller bearingscomprising a race L and balls or rollers K, and in the arrangementdescribed, the ball bearing spindle M is carried in slots in the bearersI of the gates Z, Z? so as to permit a relative limited movement betweenthe spindles and the gates, to ease the shock in opening or closing,should the track wheels H meet with an obstruction.

Instead of fixing the cams B, B to the landing gates as described inFigs. 1 to a, these may of course be fixed to the car gate Y as shown inFigs. 8 and 8 in which case the latch Ff would be fixed on the landinggate Z*, the tail part X* of the latch coming between the cams 13* and Bwhen the car is in proper position in respect to the landing.

It follows from the description given that the cage gate cannot beclosed by an attendant or a passenger in the cage without closing thelanding gate at the same time; if, therefore, a device be fitted to thecage door, which when the latter is open is effective in preventing theoperation of the motive power by which the lift is operated, this devicewill at each landing be connected to the landing gate, and will be aseffective in insuring the closing of the landing gate as would be thecase if each landing gate were fitted with such a device. In casestherefore where my invention is appliedto lift gates, only one suchdevice on the car gate need be fitted.

Having now fully described my invention, I declare that what I claim,and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In an elevator and incombination with the cage gate and the landing gate; a locking device onthe cage gate; an actuating part on the cage gate movable relatively tothe cage gate and adapted by such-relative movement to actuate the cagegate locking device; stops to limit the said relative movement; alocking device on the landing gate; an actuating part on the landinggate having limited movement relatively to the landing gate and adaptedby such movement to actuate the landing gate locking device; stops ,tolimit the said relative movement; said two actuating parts being locatedon the respective gates so that they come 1nto operative relationshipwhen the gates are in vertical alinement, and, when one of the gates ismoved transversely relatively to the other, said parts are by contactwith each other moved to their limit positions, and each therebyactuating its respective device, said parts after the said movement hasreached its limit serving to connect the two gates together;substantially as described.

2. In an elevator and in combination with the cage gate and the landinggate; a locking device on the cage gate; a lever pivoted to the cagegate and adapted in its limiting positions to open the locking device;stops limiting the movement of said lever; a locking lever on thelanding gate; a tail piece on said locking lever; a striker pin, a pairof cams on the landing gate between which the striker pin passes as thecage moves up and down and one of which has limited movement relativelyto the landing gate and in one of its limiting positions engages thetail piece so as to close the landing gate locking lever and springstending to move the said cam into the engaging position; substantiallyas described.

3. In combination with the cage gate and the landing gate of anelevator; a locking device on the one gate; a lever having limitedangular movement and adapted to actuate the locking device; a strikerpin carried from said lever, a pair of cam surfaces on the other gate,one of the said surfaces being spring controlled and having limitedlateral movement relatively to the gate; a locking device on this gate;a lever pivoted on the gate actuating the locking device; a tail piececarried by said lever which tail piece is normally pressed by the lastmentioned cam plate to cause the engagement of the locking device, saidstriker pin lying between the cam plates when the gates are in alinementand when the gate to which it is attached is moved, being firstdeflected by contact with the cam plates so as to release the lockingdevice connected with it and then to move the said cam plate relativelyto the second gate and permit the movement of the tail piece necessaryto disengage the locking device connected to it; substantially asdescribed.

4:. In combination with the cage gate and the'landing gate of anelevator; a striker pin carried on the cage gate; a pair of cams carriedon the landing gate, said cams being spring controlled and each havinglimited relative movement to the gate; an operating handle on thelanding gate; means articulating one of the said cam plates to saidhandle; a locking device; a lever pivoted to the landing gate and havinga tail piece normally making contact with the other cam plate whichcontact maintains the locking device in the engaging position;the'striker pin on the cage gate forming an interposingpiece between thecams by which movement transmitted to the handlecontrolled-cam istransmitted to the other cam to release the locking device, said strikerpin and came also serving to couple the gates together so that they openand close in unison; substantially as described. 7

5. In combination With the cage gate and the landing gate of anelevator; a striker pin; a lever carrying the striker pin and havinglimited angular movement; a looking device on the cage gate actuated bythe said lever; a pair of cams carried on the landing gate said camsbeing spring controlled and each having limited movement relatively tothe gate; an operating handle on the landing gate; means articulatingone or said cam plates to said handle; a locking device; a lever pivotedto the landing gate and having a tail piece normally making contact withthe other cam plate which contact maintains the locking device in theengaging position; the striker pin on the cage gate forming aninterposing piece between the cams by which movement transmitted to thehandle controlled cam is transmitted to the other cam to release thelocking device, said striker pin and cams also serving to couple thegates together so that they open and close in unison; substantially asdescribed.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twoWitnesses.

EUGENE GHAUDOIR. Witnesses:

J. E. LLOYD BARNES; Josnrn E. Hmsr.

